10 posts tagged “lansing”
Dear Josh and Jerry,
Father's Day is here tomorrow and I feel a tug at my heart to make sure that you both understand a very important fact. Here it is, simple and straight forward, I love you both and am VERY proud to have you both as my sons.
One of the things that a man begins to understand, as he gets older and accumulates a little more wisdom, is the hard wiring that is built in the relationship between a father and son. The son craves, nearly above all else, the blessing of the father. Dad, are you proud of me? Dad, do you love me?
As men, in your 20's and 30's, it is very easy for you to conclude, when you stumble, that you can somehow lose my favor. This is particularly true when your father is one who, by societies measure, is successful and can seemingly do no wrong. But please, understand, I have made a LOT of my own stumbles along the way. Everyman will stumble in his own way. In that, we are no different.
You see me now, in my 50's, and presume that I have never made a bad decision. Please understand that I have made many, many poor decisions. Many of them were in my earlier years, but bad decisions just as well.
When I think of this issue, I think of the relationship between Jesus and Peter. Jesus told Peter that he would betray him before the cock crowed. Peter responded that there was no way! But, just as Jesus had predicted, Peter actually betrayed him three times.
When Peter heard the cock crow after his third betrayal he wept bitterly. I am sure that his tears were actually convulsions of pain coming from deep within. You see, I understand this pain. In my 50 years, I have not heard from my own father, the words I so long to hear. Now, with his passing, I never will.
After the resurrection, Peter was nowhere to be found. He left and went by himself to take up fishing. He felt that he was no longer worthy. I am certain that as the waves in his little boat bantered him about that he wept bitterly for days. I am certain that he had a HUGE hole in his heart that he felt would never be filled.
Then one day, there he was! Jesus was standing on the shore. Can you feel Peter's pain? As he looks into the eyes of Jesus, can you feel the pain coming from his very soul? Every man can. I have tears running down my face as I type. Right now, I just want to scream out in pain.
But, in the next few minutes all that pain was instantly removed. Jesus sought him out! Jesus made a special effort, before leaving this earth, to visit Peter and heal the deep pain in his heart. With this gesture, there was healing and Peter would become "The Rock" of the church. "Upon this rock, I will build my church", said Jesus.
Josh. Jerry. I know that you both feel that you have let me down from time to time. I know that you both feel that you have big shoes to fill. Please understand however, that your thoughts are not my thoughts. Please know that I understand the challenges of becoming a wise and loving man in today's society. Please know that in you both, I am very pleased, and stand ready, as your loving earthly father, to give you that same "blessing".
From today forward, when those thoughts of doubt of my love come, cast them away. Nothing can separate either of you from my love. Nothing! I would gladly die for you both!
From this day forward, stand up and move forward knowing that I am here to come along side you, as a man, to find the life that only you can build on this earth. This is the relationship of a man and his sons. I deeply long for that relationship and I deeply long for you to know the depth of my love for you.
I thought, in closing, I would share this video with you. It is Dr. Emerson talking about this very relationship between Christ and Peter. He is using this story as an example for married couples, but the message is still very strong and applies to what I am trying to communicate.
My greatest father's day gift would be to know, that you know, of my love for you as your father.
Josh, I love you! Jerry, I love you!
Dad
As you know, we moved permanently to Scottsdale, Arizona in November after selling our mortgage company (Pacesetter Mortgage) in Michigan.
We have spent the last 5 months getting to know our new home, traveling, and deciding what we want to do when we grow up.
Mortgage Broker Coaching, LLC is a consulting company to Mortgage Broker Owners and high producing loan officers to help them develop their owner skills.
Many successful owners and loan officers become slaves to their company's and the dream of owning their own business becomes tainted with long hours, inconsistent product delivery and staffing issues.
Our new company will help them conquer these issues and create a company that not only gives them the income that they desire but the time to enjoy it. The added benefit to this accomplishment is creating a company that has value and could ultimately be sold.
We intend to keep our consulting company to no more than 10 clients so that we can maintain the lifestyle that we desire in this stage of our life.
The photograph above is from our debut at the Arizona Association of Mortgage Brokers Spring Expo. We met hundreds of very nice people and feel confident that we met a few of our first clients.
We are both very excited about this new venture because it will allow us to give back to the industry that has afforded us so much in our mortgage careers.
I also intend to be deeply involved in the Arizona Association of Mortgage Brokers as well. This is a great organization and will afford me another way to stay in touch with the industry and share my 20 years of industry experience.
david "at" mortgagebrokercoaching "dot" com
Today was our first Christmas in Scottsdale, Arizona. It was a bit strange to have beautiful 70 degree weather for Christmas but I suspect we will not have any difficultly managing to put up with it.
We surely miss family and friends back in Michigan and around the country.
A very special treat was to have Beth (Carol's sister) and Jessica (Jerry's girlfriend) here for this special holiday. Our day started with 10:00 brunch which included Gedda, Egg Casserole, and a beautiful Fruit Salad.
After brunch we opened a few presents, Carol and Jessica got haircuts from Beth, and a day of leisure is beginning to ensue.
I suspect we will take in a movie later in the day and we have a very special dinner in store which Carol has been planning for a few days.
I believe it has something to do with pigs and warming devices.
More later.....
Dave Matusz, pictured left, and his beautiful wife joined us a number of years ago to visit our place in The Homestead Resort in beautiful Glen Arbor, Michigan.
That year was a particularly cold one and there were icebergs on Lake Michigan right in our front yard at the resort.
David, in his never ending creative mind, said that there were the makings of a new sport and leaped upon one of the icebergs and right there on that very day founded the new sport of Bergsurfing.
Bergsurfing is all about the ability to maintain your balance as the waves banter the icebergs about and precision form. As you can see to the left, David has mastered the infamous, Bergsquat. Just look at that form and the near perfect perpendicular form of his arms.
The other intriguing part of this sport is that the icebergs, critical of course to this sport, only show up once or perhaps twice each decade. I am told that David is working, in the privacy of his home, on a special stance, "The Bergwalker". This is a special stance that involves the use of a "walker". You know, the old folks use them to get around. Dave says that this is a very difficult movement to master and he hopes to have it down when the icebergs and his need of a walker come into alignment in the future.
I am truly honored to have this master as a friend.
Merry Christmas to David, Kim, Audrey, A.J. and also their new puppy (can't remember the name).
Carol was searching on the Internet and found that this was the only "4 Star" lodging in the Lansing area. I can tell you that we have stayed in many "4 Star" establishments and the rooms in this hotel fell FAR short of our expectations with this rating.
Our first room looked like a very small dorm room and the bathroom was so small that the shower floor was also the bathroom floor. It felt like a bathroom on a sailboat it was so small.
We picked up the phone and shared with them our disappointment and they moved us to a larger "suite" which was still very much remnant of a dorm room. Being very tired from traveling all day, we succumbed to our desire to plant ourselves somewhere.
Saturday morning, after my workout, I was showering in the bathroom (which was very nice by the way) and as I finished my shower I slipped and caught my toe nail on the stopper in the tub (bottom picture). As you can see, it is very narrow and ripped my toe nail three quarters of the way off. OUCH!
Upon inspection, we decided that we had better go to the doctor and let him/her take a peek at it. As it turned out, the nail had to be removed and now I had to "gimp" my way around all of our parties.
The flight home was most miserable, as the normal swelling that occurs when one flies across the country made my toe swell to the size of a small lime. OUCH!
It is now 6 days later and the worst of the pain is over, but if I don't keep my foot elevated, I can feel my heartbeat in a little cantata of shooting pain in my toe.
I am told that the nail will take 4 - 6 month to return to all it's splendor. I am just looking forward to the point at which I can get my butt back in the gym.
I took a picture of the toe, but I will spare you those gory details. It is truly UCKY!
As you can see to the left, Savannah, our granddaughter, has lost some teeth since our last visit. She also thought she was pretty hot stuff in her "oh so Hollywood" sun glasses.
For Christmas, we got her a "Build a Bear" which she seemed to like right away and named her Alissa.
It was great to see family and friends for a visit to Michigan.
I then began to think about what a gift it is to live in this country, grow a business, and be able to experience your dreams.
Of course all of this would not be worth a pile of beans with out my most special gift...Carol.
Honey...here is a special song just for you and to let you know how much I love you.
Amidst all the unpacking and work that goes with moving across the country we are also excited to have some great friends and Realtors from Michigan in town to visit.
Part of owning a mortgage company, back in Michigan, was the joy of having great friends that you work with. Deneen, Craig and Kim are some of the best Realtors we have ever known. We like you too Mark even though you are not in the real estate business. Perhaps that is why you are the most sane of the group.
The Benhams are here visiting their home in Terravita with the Laforets as their guests.
We have a few more days to mingle, ride the Harley, drive the Porsche, and enjoy good friends and good food.
Tomorrow begins our journey to Scottsdale, Arizona. We recently sold our business (pacesetter mortgage) and are heading to our home in Scottsdale to begin another phase of our life.
All of our furniture has already been shipped and we have been living in a short term apartment for the last 6 weeks. We essentially just have our clothing and tooth brushes with us.
When deciding how to make that actual trip from Michigan to Arizona we decided to take a 10 day jaunt. As I began to plan the trip, I happened across the DiRoNa List on the Internet.
If you are a chef in North America, the DiRoNa List is the ultimate recognition. Only 800 restaurants in Canada, the US, and Mexico are on the list.
As we began to think about our trip and where we would eat, we decided to make our trip "The DiRoNa Jaunt". In other words, we are only staying in towns that have a restaurant on this list. We have reservations in 10 different restaurants, on the DiRoNa List, on the way to Scottsdale.
My posts, over the coming 10 days, will chronicle the adventures of our DiRoNa Jaunt.
I invite you to come along.
The food was amazing, the night was filled with laughter, and Carol and I are beginning to realize how hard it will be to move to Scottsdale, Arizona and not be able to easily visit our friends.
Thank you Bob and Karen for hosting such a marvelous night!
